


Business or Leisure

by Anonymous



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Co-workers, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, M/M, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, hotel au, which nobody asked for but im providing it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Thanatos didn't particularly like his job of working at the hotel House of Hades, but it was a steady source of income and it didn't cause too much trouble. Usually. That is, until Zagreus is assigned to his shift to work with him to give him backup while simultaneously trying to learn professionalism in a job he hates.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay full disclosure, I work the night shift at a hotel (I won't say what brand but it is a pretty fucking nice brand) and i just really wanted to project some of the shit that happens around here onto these two because I felt like the premise of working together at a hotel was good and interesting. (Plus I really wanted to make the pun of "sleep like the dead")
> 
> Does it make more sense for Than and Zag to work day shift? Probably. Do I know anything that goes on during the day shifts? Nope. So night shift it is.

“Welcome to House of Hades, where— oh hello Than!”

Thanatos sighed and shrugged off his hoodie as he entered the hotel, greeted by his cheerful brother. “Hypnos,” he said with a nod.

“I have good news for you!” Hypnos procured the schedule for next week. “Hades decided that it might do his son some good to work with you. So you two will be working together from now on. Now you’ll have someone else to handle situations while you call the police, isn’t that great?”

Thanatos grimaced. He hadn’t seen Zagreus outside of just passing one another as shifts were handed off, but he had heard stories of his mess ups in the book all of the shifts used to communicate with one another. He only got the job of working at the front desk because his mother and Zagreus’ father were acquaintances. Hades managed the hotel, but Nyx owned it. He and a few others worked at the front desk and for housekeeping. “Sure.”

Thanatos followed Hypnos into the back to punch in at the same time that his brother punched out.

“Don’t get bored to death on the graveyard shift!” Hypnos said cheerfully, and Thanatos only sighed. He learned to just not care about his brother’s attempts at jokes.

“I won’t,” he said as he walked back to the front, with Hypnos trailing behind him.

“Honestly I don’t know how you do it, staying awake at such late hours of the night. I’d be falling asleep at the desk!” Hypnos rambled.

“You already fall asleep at the desk.”

“No I don’t! I doze a little, maybe zone out, but I don’t fall asleep.”

Hypnos fell asleep at the desk. He knew that. Everyone knew that. Why Hades hadn’t fired him yet was one of the seven wonders of the hotel. Thanatos preferred the night shift of course, it was quiet, there were less people, he could get everything he needed to done and then some to make up for the lack of effort from his other coworkers. At least the pay was nice.

“I wonder where Zagreus is. He was supposed to start working with you tonight,” Hypnos mused with a purse of his lips.

“Probably fell asleep,” Thanatos replied easily as he started to put together a checklist. “It happens to people not used to starting third shift.”

“I can’t imagine how angry Hades is going to be at that,” Hypnos laughed, then headed for the door. “Well, have a nice night! Call me if you need anything!”

They both knew Thanatos would rather die than call anyone in the middle of the night for help. Maybe that was why Zagreus was being assigned to work with him. He simply waved at Hypnos as he glanced over the communication binder, though it was empty. Hypnos hardly ever reported on anything.

Thus, his work day— or rather night— began. It was always quiet during his shift, “deathly quiet” as Hypnos would call it. He didn’t know why they went with a theme of death for the business. It really wasn’t conducive to bringing guests in. He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. He always relished these first few moments, where everything was still and he could simply shift into the mindset of working. Not that he ever shifted _out_ of that mindset.

He heard a car whiz past the entrance into the parking lot and stood up straight with a frown. So much for his first few minutes of tranquility and peace then. There weren’t supposed to be any more people with reservations, so perhaps it was someone already staying at the hotel. Yet when the doors opened, he realized that wasn’t the case. Zagreus strode in, holding a fast food bag and a drink.

“Hey Thanatos,” he said with a wave of the hand holding the drink. “Guess we’re going to be working together now huh?”

“You’re late,” Thanatos said simply. “Go punch in.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Zagreus promised with a laugh. He went into the back, and Thanatos went about cleaning up the lobby. It wasn’t bad, Hypnos and the housekeepers did a good job of keeping it clean, but it gave him something to do while he waited for Zagreus to come back from punching in.

Zagreus came back only a couple minutes later. “I got you a taco.”

Thanatos paused in his sweeping and looked up at the sad excuse of a paper wrapped taco. “Excuse me?”

“I got you a taco,” Zagreus repeated. “Didn’t know what you liked, so I got one of the regular kinds. Hypnos told me you don’t eat enough.”

 _That little…_ Thanatos sighed and gripped the broom harder. “I eat enough, but thank you. Put it aside, I’ll eat it later if I’m hungry.”

“Got it.” Zagreus disappeared into the back and came back not a minute later, now without the sad looking taco. “Would have gotten pizza, but none of the good places are open.”

“You get used to it,” Thanatos replied as he went back to sweeping. “Order from one of the three restaurants open after midnight, or bring your own lunch.”

“No wonder you don’t eat enough,” Zagreus mused. He leaned over the desk and watched Thanatos. “So what do you do during night shift? Just sweep?”

“No,” Thanatos sighed. “There’s other things as well. There’s coffee to keep fresh, breakfast to get ready for the chef, making sure all of the reservations are checked in and accounted for.”

“Huh. Always thought night shift was just sitting around doing nothing,” Zagreus mused.

“That’s because Hypnos seems to be under the impression that it’s sitting around doing nothing,” Thanatos said, holding back the urge to grind his teeth. “He always wants to switch shifts because he thinks this shift is the easy shift, it’s _not_.”

“Sorry if I hit a sore spot there mate,” Zagreus said with a weak smile. He actually did look apologetic.

“It’s alright. I— what are you wearing,” Thanatos interrupted himself deadpanned as he finally realized Zagreus was very much not in the business casual dresscode. He was in a loose red t-shirt, dark jeans that _maybe_ could pass for tight slacks if someone didn’t look close enough, and shoes with flames drawn on the side.

“What? This is a nice shirt,” Zagreus said, plucking at the hem of the t-shirt.

“It’s not professional. Didn’t your father give you a uniform?”

“Yes but it’s horribly uncomfortable.”

Thanatos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wait one second.” He went into the back and dug around in his things that he kept at the hotel for emergencies. One such emergency was if the lobby got too cold, he had a spare black peacoat. It wasn’t much, but he hoped Zagreus was really the same size as Thanatos like he looked. He walked back out with the coat and held that out to Zagreus. “Here.”

“I’m not cold but thanks,” Zagreus said with a wave of his hand.

“It’s not for the temperature, it’s because you need to look professional,” Thanatos insisted as he held the coat out to Zagreus more.

Zagreus looked down at himself, frowned, then took the coat and slipped it on. “It’s tight,” he grumbled as he tried to fasten the buttons. It did prove to be just a bit too long on Zagreus, but it was better than wearing street clothes.

Thanatos stepped closer, his thin fingers easily getting the coat fastened. “There.” He gave the hem a small tug and brushed off a piece of dog hair that had gotten on the chest, presumably from the occasional time when Hades brought his three dogs in.

“Making me wear your clothes _and_ feeling me up on the first day? A bit fast, don’t you think?” Zagreus joked, and Thanatos scoffed and stepped away.

“I was making sure you looked presentable for our line of work,” he reasoned, and stumbled as Zagreus gave him a nudge.

“Just a joke,” Zagreus assured him. “So what do we do right now?”

“Stand here and wait for people to come in,” Thanatos replied. “Not many visit at this late hour.”

“ _Ugh_.” Zagreus slumped on the table, leaning heavily on his arms. “This is torture. My father is trying to torture me.”

“He’s trying to teach you professionalism, as I understand it. Something I can see you desperately require more training for.”

“Mm.” Zagreus frowned and took a sip of his drink. “I hate this place. Don’t even want to work here.”

“Then why are you?” Thanatos asked. “Go find a different job.”

“Can’t. Nobody around here would take me,” Zagreus said with a sigh. “Never finished school, didn’t go to university. A failure in my dad’s eyes, but he thinks smothering me here with work will ‘shape me to be better’.”

Thanatos felt a small pang of sympathy for Zagreus. Working so long here, he had thought all of his emotions except cynicism were gone. Customer service would do that to anyone, he was sure.

Before he could open his mouth to say anything, the phone rang and startled them both.  
  
“I got it,” Zagreus said, picking it up. “Thanks for calling the House of Hades, where you’ll sleep like the dead. How can I help you?” He paused, his neutral expression shifting into a small, confused frown. His brows knit together. “…Do you mean right now? No, I don’t think anywhere is open for that. Okay bye.” He hung up the phone and gave an exasperated sigh. “Who asks about sit down dining recommendations at midnight?” he asked.

Thanatos huffed a small laugh. “I get weird questions like that a lot. I bet they were high.”

“They definitely were,” Zagreus said with a snicker.

“People who are drunk or high are most common during this shift,” Thanatos explained. “Get used to it, and try to keep your patience.”

“I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t,” Zagreus assured him. “Still, they could be a bit more subtle about it, you know?”

“There’s cameras right there, in case you didn’t know,” Thanatos said with his voice lowered, and pointed to the camera in the corner of the wall and ceiling. “It records audio.”

“I know, I’m not new here.” Zagreus waved him off. “I don’t care. What’s he going to do, fire me? I hope he does.” He leaned against the desk and grinned. “So, it’s been a while huh? Haven’t seen you since school.”

“It has been a while, hasn’t it,” Thanatos said as he sorted through his papers.

“I would ask what you’ve been up to, but…we’re working together right here. That’s what you’ve been up to.”

“I have a life outside of work.”

“Really? I remember you not really doing much outside of school. Always pushing yourself too much. Are you married?”

Thanatos nearly choked on the sudden question. “That’s personal.”

“So that’s a no. Seeing anyone casually?”

“I don’t share my personal life with my coworkers.”

“Another no. Do you really do anything outside of work?”

A pause passed between them. “…I don’t need to.”

“I knew it,” Zagreus snickered, and Thanatos heaved a heavy sigh.

This was going to be a very, very long shift.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh!!!! This got much more positive reception than I could have ever hoped for omg you guys are so sweet
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter!!

At 2 AM, Thanatos caved and ate the taco.

He tried to avoid it, if for nothing else than to spite Hypnos who seemed intent on making Thanatos’ eating habits his business, but he had forgotten to pack a lunch that night and it was an okay taco in the end. He had waited until Zagreus left for the bathroom, down the long hall so he wouldn’t get a smug “I knew it” look, but Zagreus must have known Thanatos’ plan, or had heard the crinkle of the cheap paper wrapper, because he was back in record time. Thanatos had only gotten halfway through the taco.

Thanatos froze, bracing himself for the smug remark that would surely follow. But none came, and Zagreus simply flipped through the different in house guests without giving him a second look. Thanatos frowned and continued to eat the food— though it could hardly be counted as food— and soon enough the cheap taco was gone.

He tried to discreetly toss away the wrapper, but there was no possible way to be discreet with a paper wrapper. It crinkled as loudly as possible, sounding like shattered glass to Thanatos in the otherwise quiet lobby.

"Got more back there if you're still hungry," Zagreus offered without looking up from the screen.

Thanatos frowned. "I'm alright, thank you.”

"They'll be thrown away if you don't eat them. I'm not hungry, and my father would kill me if he found out I bought fast food again."

Well, when he put it like that… Thanatos went into the back, and grabbed the bag. He brought it to the desk and took out another taco. Zagreus took one as well, despite his insistence just a few seconds ago that he wasn’t hungry.

"Do you buy fast food that often?" Thanatos asked.

"Not too much. But you know him, getting fast food more than once a year is considered too much."

That sparked a small chuckle from Thanatos. "Good to know that hasn't changed."

"Speaking of changing, I never told you I like the new hairstyle," Zagreus admitted with a wave at Thanatos' shoulders. "Got sick of the rocker metal screamo look?"

"Got sick of spending an arm and a leg every month on hair products," Thanatos replied. "Now it's only a hand every other month."

Zagreus tossed his head back and laughed, light and carefree, and for a moment it felt like things really hadn't changed. Like they were sitting back in Nyx's living room ten years ago, eating some spectacular meal that they had helped Thanatos' mother with. Thanatos almost expected Hypnos to shuffle in any moment, wrapped up in his thick red duvet to steal some.

But they weren't back in Nyx's living room after school, they were in a hotel lobby at 2 in the morning and they were supposedly adults now and they were eating barely decent tacos and laughing about Thanatos' expensive taste in hair products.

Zagreus seemed to sense the air too, as his laughs died down to a sheepish smile and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow. It…doesn't feel like it's been five years," he admitted.

Thanatos hummed and leaned against the desk. "I know what you mean." He tapped a couple fingers against the desk. "What are you doing these days?"

"Apartment hunting. Sometimes staying over with friends if things get too tense at home," Zagreus replied. "Nyx has let me come over a few times."

"I've heard," Thanatos mused. He managed a small smile. "Soon you'll be replacing me as her favorite son."

Zagreus laughed again. "Nah. You're too great." He bumped their shoulders together. "Guess I'm the same as you. Single, not much outside of work. Except it's not hardworking and impressive like you, it's sad and depressing. I don't have my own place, nor do I have a million cats."

"I only have one cat," Thanatos fired back.

"Oh so you did get a cat? Now you have to show me. What's its name?" Zagreus asked with a grin. "I bet it's a bastard like you."

"His name is Percy, and he is _not_ a bastard." Thanatos checked the lobby, and even leaned over the desk a bit to make sure nobody was about to come inside. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he pulled out his phone and unlocked it swiftly to open up his photo gallery. A pure black cat-shaped blob with two wide green eyes stared up at the camera.

Zagreus leaned in close to peer at the screen. It was much too close for Thanatos’ usual preference for personal space, but somehow he didn’t mind.

"Are you sure?” Zagreus asked. “That looks like a bastard."

Forget it, he very much did mind. He nudged Zagreus away with his elbow and a huff. "Does this look like a bastard?" Thanatos returned to his phone gallery and looked through it for only a couple moments before he pulled up a photo of Percy wearing a harness with two cheap butterfly wings attached to it. Percy had the same wide eyed look on his face.

"He looks like he's going to kill you in your sleep for that. I know I would if you put me in a butterfly costume."

“He goes on walks with it all the time.”

“You’re going to be found dead one day, and the only evidence on the scene of the crime is going to be that butterfly harness ripped to shreds.”

“Just because Cerberus doesn’t like costumes doesn’t mean every pet doesn’t like them.”

“Cerberus is the most tolerant dog out there, if he doesn’t like something then no pet should.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Oh but putting your cat in butterfly wings does?”

The two of them held a glare for a whole three seconds before they both cracked. Zagreus nearly doubled over with his laughter as Thanatos smiled and laughed a bit.

The sliding doors opened, and Thanatos instantly straightened up and managed a neutral expression while Zagreus tried to stand up straight and get a hold of himself with marginal success. He still had a wobbly smile on his face, and his shoulders shook with muffled laughter. Thanatos subtly stomped on his foot, perhaps with a bit more force than he meant to, but it instantly got Zagreus to stop laughing as the guest strode inside. Clearly someone with a room already, judging by how they strode past with their head high, their shoulders squared, and their room key already in hand.

“Hello welcome,” Thanatos called out to them, only getting a nod of acknowledgment. Definitely on a mission.

They stood in silence until the guest got inside the elevator, and the elevator shuddered up to whatever floor they were heading for. Zagreus broke the stillness by giving Thanatos a small kick in the ankle. “What the hell was that for?”

“You need to be able to switch to a professional look at an instant, in case a guest comes in,” Thanatos replied. A beat passed between them, and Zagreus huffed and tried to stand up straight next to him. Thanatos spared a glance at him, then looked forward resolutely as he lightly kicked Zagreus back, keeping his face neutral as Zagreus hissed. Zagreus tried to kick back once more, but Thanatos merely stepped out of the way, a small smile threatening to break on his lips once more.

“Oh you—” Zagreus lunged to grab Thanatos, and he pulled Thanatos into a headlock. Thanatos struggled to pull himself free but Zagreus only held on tighter and even dug his knuckles into the top of Thanatos’ head in a harsh noogie, messing up his hair.

“Zag let me go, you— ugh!” Thanatos cursed as he finally was freed and tried to smooth his hair down with his fingers. “Now who’s the bastard?”

“Still you. Here.” Zagreus stepped closer and combed his fingers through a piece of hair that was still sticking up. “There. Stop fussing now.”

Thanatos scoffed and ran his hands over his hair one more time to make absolute certain it was laying flat again. “You’re as incorrigible as ever.”

“And you’re as much of a smartass as ever,” Zagreus fired back with a grin. He leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. A beat of silence passed between them as he glanced around the lobby. “Haven’t gotten called Zag in a while.”

“It’s easier to say.”

“But not ‘professional’,” Zagreus teased, making air quotes with his fingers. “What was that about being professional, in case of a guest?”

“Oh shut it, there’s nobody around right now.” Thanatos huffed and stepped up to the computer. “Come on, we have to run audit.”

“To expose my father’s tax evasion?” Zagreus asked.

Thanatos stopped in his typing and looked at him. “What?”

Zagreus shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Does he actually—”

“Probably not.”

“ _Probably_?”

“I don’t look at his taxes. Anyway, audit,” Zagreus said, standing closer to Thanatos to glance at the computer. “What’s so special about it?”

“It gathers up all of the data from the shift reports during the day, everything that was done by every employee, the room status and how it’s changed during the day, all money that was taken physically or through a card, it switches the day over to the next day, it— you’re not listening are you.”

Zagreus looked up from his phone, and showed the screen to Thanatos. On it was a video of a puppy getting a grooming, except the puppy kept wanting to play and give kisses to the groomer. “He’s being such a _good boy_.”

Thanatos pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Pay attention, this is important.”

“I was, audit does a bunch of magic computer stuff so that we don’t have to do it manually,” Zagreus replied as he looked back at his phone and continued to scroll.

“It’s not magic computer stuff,” Thanatos quipped, though he hated to admit that Zagreus was kind of right. He didn’t really know what it did, but he knew it did a lot that he would never want to do by hand. He huffed and tried to push it out of his mind as he got it started. Reports flashed by on the screen faster than he could read them, not that he really had much of a care to. He stood back and glanced at Zagreus’ phone. There were more photos and clips of dogs.

Thanatos tried to not make a habit of watching over people’s shoulders when they were on their phones, but the dogs really were cute and the way his old friend’s face softened was endearing, in a way. He leaned in a little when Zagreus paused in his scrolling to watch a husky bite at some bubbles drifting in the air. Zagreus noticed and moved the screen more to in between them so Thanatos could watch easier.

“It’s like you,” Thanatos mused.

“Because it has different color eyes?”

“No, because of all of its flailing around and looking ridiculous.”

Zagreus drew away with an indignant look. “I got you a taco and this is how you thank me?”

“Yes,” Thanatos replied flatly. It only took a small snort from Zagreus and he broke, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as Zagreus laughed again.

They settled into an easy silence for a bit after that, with Zagreus leaning on the desk with a hand supporting his chin while he kept finding things to do on his phone. Thanatos browsed through things on the computer, then found a way to clean up the lobby again.

He startled when Zagreus suddenly snickered and stood up, and he looked over at him. “What?”

“Got reminded of an old photo,” Zagreus said as he beckoned Thanatos over. Thanatos set the broom aside and went over to Zagreus to look at his phone. He laughed a bit as well. On the phone was a picture of himself and Zagreus in school, with the caption labeling them as the lady killers of the school.

Thanatos even huffed out a small laugh. “When was that taken?”

“Clearly not before my last year,” Zagreus said. He looked at Thanatos with a grin. “Still can’t believe you came out as a ‘fun fact’.”

“Ugh, that was years ago Zagreus,” Thanatos said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _Please_ do not remind me.”

“You could have literally said _anything_. ‘I like cats’ or ‘metal is my favorite music’,” Zagreus continued, his grin widening. “But no, you had to say ‘My name is Thanatos, and a fun fact about me is _I’m gay’_.”

Thanatos sighed and stepped away once more. He grabbed the broom to focus on sweeping up the dirt in the lobby that wasn’t really there. It gave him something to focus on other than the burning embarrassment in his chest. “I begged mother to transfer me after that.”

“Oh please, you know you would have missed me too much,” Zagreus joked, though his smile fell. “Not that it would have mattered in the end.”

Thanatos could only manage a small hum in agreement. He tried not to think about it too hard. His best friend at the time missed days here and there, every kid did, but then Zagreus started to not be around for longer and longer stretches of time. He always came back, until one day he didn’t. No word, no explanation. Thanatos spared a glance at his friend, who was back to scrolling through his phone.

_”Mother we’re home,” Thanatos called out. He shrugged off his bag as Hypnos immediately flopped down onto the couch next to their mother._

_“How was class?” Nyx asked, only sparing a glance up from her laptop._

_“Good,” Thanatos said automatically. It really wasn’t good. He frowned. “…Zagreus wasn’t there again.”_

_That made Nyx pause and close the lid of her laptop to look up at him. She looked at him with a slight frown on her lips. “Did he not tell you?”_

_“What?”_

_Nyx sighed and folded her hands in her lap, taking a breath— for what, Thanatos didn’t know at the time._

_Hypnos beat her to it. “He dropped out. Everyone’s been talking about it for weeks now, how did you not know?”_

He wondered if Zagreus knew how torn up he had been over it. His performance dropped considerably. If Zagreus thought he buried himself in work before then, Thanatos drowned himself in it day after day until the books and mountains of paper cut enough scratches to forget the deep wound left by Zagreus suddenly disappearing.

He didn’t have many friends, even less so afterwards. Zagreus was always the one that blended into friend groups seamlessly, and Thanatos stuck with him. When Zagreus wasn’t there, the people he had spent so much time in the vicinity of suddenly became strangers, as he realized he really didn’t know anything about them.

He tried to know them of course, but none of them shared his interests. One even asked what they did wrong, because they thought Thanatos was angry at the group for something with how he always was glaring. He wasn’t, he had actually started to enjoy himself a little. Yet when he tried to express that, he was only mocked for being unable to “properly” show emotions.

And suddenly the songs he listened to, outcasts damning the world and wanting to set fire to it, all made sense.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Zagreus called over to him, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

Thanatos loosened his grip on the broom and turned to look at him. “What?”

“You still do that thing. Where you’re thinking really hard about something, and you stare off into nothing and you get the little wrinkles right here.” Zagreus gestured to his brow. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Thanatos replied automatically. He tried to go back to sweeping, only to find his hands cramped up from how long he was gripping the broom in a death grip. He sighed and managed to get the small pile of dirt and dust swept into the dustpan.

“Oh come on, I know you. You’re never thinking about nothing,” Zagreus teased. Or at least, Thanatos thought it was an attempt at a joke, just something lighthearted, but it sent electricity sparking along his skin and he gritted his teeth as something in him _snapped_.

“No you don’t,” Thanatos hissed. He stalked back to the desk, glowering. It felt childish, and he would surely feel embarrassed later for how quickly his emotions overtook him, but it was three in the morning and he was forced to face a stranger who had the same face and mismatched eyes as his childhood best friend but with sharper, more grown up, features. “You haven’t known me for _five years_ Zagreus. Stop acting like you do.”

Zagreus only blinked a few times in surprise. “Oh. Erm…sorry about the sore subject then?” he said with a slight grimace. “There’s one last taco, if you want it.”

A peace offering. Thanatos could recognize it for what it was from a mile away. “I’m not hungry,” he said, trying to make his voice as cold as he could.

Yet Zagreus didn’t seem to even flinch, and he stayed put. Thanatos focused on the computer, running the reports to be printed out. At least this he could do in his sleep, or the equivalent of his head being too filled with static and anger.

Silence stretched between them for far too long.

“You know I didn’t choose to leave,” Zagreus spoke up quietly.

Just like that, the sharp cold of Thanatos’ anger melted. It never could last long in Zagreus' warmth back when they were kids, and it still couldn't hold up now. He took a breath and let it out slowly to try to release the tension that was keeping himself drawn tight. “I know. But you didn’t write, or call, or— anything. You didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I’m sorry. I was going to tell you, but— I couldn’t. And then it was too late.” Their shoulders brushed as Zagreus stepped closer, and a warm pinkie linked with his own. More sparks crackled over his skin, but they didn’t bring the white-hot anger from before. Instead it was a dull warmth, odd but not unwelcome.

“Alright?” Zagreus asked.

Thanatos took another breath and slowly let it out as he kept their little fingers linked. He could type one-handed. It was a worthy sacrifice. Zagreus actually tried to watch a bit, acting like he was trying to understand what Thanatos was doing.

“I miss how everything felt so easy back then,” Zagreus said, his grip on Thanatos’ little finger loosening just a hair as he let out a wistful sigh. “Felt like we could do anything. Be anything. We were _gods_.”

“We were _kids_ ,” Thanatos corrected.

“There wasn’t a difference to us, back then.”

The clock was crawling towards four in the morning. Thanatos needed to get the coffee ready for the early morning guests that would be shuffling down any moment now, but he couldn’t pull away from the loose grip on his pinkie just yet. There should have been background noise somewhere, the whirring of a machine or the distant noise of cars outside, but for now the world was narrowed down to the tenuous link between them, a light touch that hadn’t brought either of them comfort for years.

“I like to get out once in a while,” Zagreus spoke up, his finger tightening around Thanatos’ own once more. “Go for a drive out into the countryside. Get lost in the woods for an afternoon. Look at the stars. If you wish to join me, my car’s got enough room.”

“I—” Thanatos felt his words catch in his throat. He pulled his hand away from Zagreus. “I have to go make coffee.” His feet carried him to the kitchen. It felt cold, harsh, too sudden. Like it broke the spidersilk thread of friendship that maybe was trying to be formed once more. But it was four in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment letting me know what you think! or a kudos, kudos are cool too
> 
> (also i cant take credit for the line "we were gods" "we were kids" that is from battle cries by the amazing devil)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!! this is my first foray into writing fics for this fandom so please be gentle with your comments. That being said I would love feedback, even if it's just a "you're getting way too detailed about the technicalities of working at a hotel and it feels like im reading a documentary about hotels more than a love story". which i really hope that isnt the case. but if it is please tell me!!


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